How to Schedule Your Day for Homeschooling
Now that you're homeschooling, how will you fit in the laundry, the grocery shopping, the cooking, the cleaning? Well, you probably can't do it all, but here are some guidelines for keeping your sanity at homeschool.
- Difficulty:
- Moderate
Instructions
Things You'll Need
- Homeschool Publications
- Answering Machines
- Internet Access
- Library Cards
- Personal Organizers
- Computers
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1
Plan your lessons weekly. That way, if you're way behind (or ahead) in a particular subject by Wednesday, you can adjust your schedule for the next couple of days to stay on track.
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2
Make a schedule and stick to it. There's nothing wrong with some healthy flexibility, but you should at least start "school" on time.
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3
Avoid getting locked into "school hours." It's surprising how much more you can accomplish in three hours a day than a classroom teacher with 28 students can in six or seven.
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Note that not all "school time" needs to be "teacher time." You might try two hours of instruction in the morning followed by "project time" after lunch.
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Fit school into your life, rather than working your life around school. Involve your children in math lessons related to cost per pound of grocery items and science lessons on photosynthesis while you garden together.
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Schedule housework into your homeschool day in such a way that your children participate and learn some valuable nonacademic lessons, too.
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Tips & Warnings
Turn on the answering machine when school starts, and don't answer the phone - no matter what - until lessons are done.
Preschoolers, more so than babies or toddlers, offer a tremendous challenge to a parent trying to homeschool older children. They don't nap regularly or long enough for you to give undivided attention to lessons for any amount of time. If you're serious about teaching, consider forming a cooperative or hiring a baby-sitter to occupy your little ones for a few hours in the morning.
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Comments
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Jane Smith
Jul 10, 2008
Wow, another article that has seen some positive changes away from the "school at home" model. Thank you! -
Jane Smith
Jul 10, 2008
Wow, another article that has seen some positive changes away from the "school at home" model. Thank you!
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Aug 21, 2006
After breakfast give your child 20-30 minutes to relax, so you can get prepared for the day. In the morning you can do academic lessons like math, science and English. Plan a break mid-morning for a snack. In the afternoon you should plan study time (depends on the grade level the time should be increased). A child in grade 7 or 8 should have 1 hr - 2 hr, depending on the amount of homework you give and if your child is doing a project. Have this time so you can relax, but be there if your child should need to ask questions. During this time your child can work on projects or essays, do homework or read. Each day you should have a physical activity time. This can be a run before breakfast, a bike ride after dinner or join a sports team.
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Aug 21, 2006
After breakfast give your child 20-30 minutes to relax, so you can get prepared for the day. In the morning you can do academic lessons like math, science and English. Plan a break mid-morning for a snack. In the afternoon you should plan study time (depends on the grade level the time should be increased). A child in grade 7 or 8 should have 1 hr - 2 hr, depending on the amount of homework you give and if your child is doing a project. Have this time so you can relax, but be there if your child should need to ask questions. During this time your child can work on projects or essays, do homework or read. Each day you should have a physical activity time. This can be a run before breakfast, a bike ride after dinner or join a sports team.
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Nov 22, 2005
1. Plan your school time when you know your child is not going to be hungry or sleepy. For instance, if your child is not a good morning person, start your lessons after mid-morning snack time, take a recess for lunch and possibly a nap (if they are preschool age), and then a quick snack before starting afternoon lessons. Stopping for lunch also allows them to spend valuable time with Dad, if he comes home for lunch. 2. Schedule home services and repairs during school time, and include them into your lessons for that day. Example: if your expecting a visit from the exterminator, look up some info before-hand to form a short simple lesson. Ask the professional if your child can ask them some questions about their work. Sometimes it stimulates your child's curiousity for you to ask the questions first. Then, after the job is done, have a discussion with your child about what they observed and how the service works. If you schedule the services during school time, and try to follow your usual lesson plans, your child will probably be too distracted to concentrate very well. 3. If your young child is fidgeting too much, and not paying attention no matter what you try, instead of pointing it out to them as a fault, channel their energy into a household task that can be carried out quickly. Simply come to a stopping point in your current lesson and announce, "Ok, now it's time for us to. . ." Supervise the activity closely, even if it is something your child does well on his own, reviewing the step-by-step procedure for completing the task as you have presented it to them before. Sometimes the ritual of a familiar job done right calms them down enough to follow more structure in their lesson. When the job is complete, matter-of-factly state that it is time to continue with the previous lesson. They don't ever need to know that you changed your lesson plans for the day. Record the activity in your log books just like a regular lesson, with objectives, steps, and review. That way, when you look back on your lesson plan book, you will be reminded of just how much you teach your child every day, and he will feel good about his accomplishments, not just be reminded of his failures.
